These June Game Sales Numbers Are Kind of Depressing

[John Funk]

These June Game Sales Numbers Are Kind of Depressing

NPD's sales numbers for this past June are a sad reminder that we live in a harsh, unfair world.

Q? Entertainment's Child of Eden was a puerile, ham-fisted, inconsistent joke of a game [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8990-Child-of-Eden-Review].

In the US, one of these games outsold the other by a factor of ten in June. Can you guess which one?

If the tone of the article thus far hasn't given it away yet, the winner on sales was Duke Nukem Forever, which was the second-best-selling game in June with 376,300 units sold, according to numbers released by NPD Group. In comparison, Child of Eden sold a paltry 34,000 copies in the same amount of time.

Another off-beat title - Suda 51's Shadows of the Damned - suffered in the sales department, moving a mere 24,000 units across both Xbox 360 and PS3. While it might not have been as good as Child of Eden [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/9009-Shadows-of-the-Damned-Review], it was certainly a hell of a lot more interesting than Duke.

Other numbers, thankfully, weren't quite as disheartening. The best-selling game of the month with 419,000 units sold was Rockstar's L.A. Noire, which despite its flaws was is superb [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8898-L-A-Noire-Review], because you knew that already.

So, while not all the news was bad, the juxtaposition of Duke Nukem Forever's sales vs. those of Child of Eden and Shadows of the Damned is still pretty damn depressing.

(Information via NeoGAF [http://www.giantbomb.com/news/here-are-the-best-selling-games-in-june-hint-duke-wasnt-1/3487/])

Permalink

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

People are predictable consumers with low standards? You don't say! This is sadly unsurprising.

 

[Citizen Snips]

This is sad. Child of Eden and Netflix are the only two things I use my Xbox for currently.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Well, it just goes to show, reviewers can say all they like but you have to have the voice of a god/godess to influence the public.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Ah summer.

The gaming drought is a harsh one this year (inFamous 2 and L.A. Noire being the only new games I bought recently).

Then winter will arrive, and I will drown in the flood waters of Skyrim.

 

[-Dragmire-]

I find it hard to compare Duke to Eden. Duke doesn't require a $150 peripheral to play it.

I know nothing about child of Eden, but based on what I read here...

Q? Entertainment's Child of Eden was a beautiful, wondrous experience [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8990-Child-of-Eden-Review] that nigh-singlehandedly made the case for Kinect as a game peripheral.

... I assume it's a mandatory peripheral.

 

[jakko12345]

don't worry my people, true greatness looms on the horizon.

 

[John Funk]

I find it hard to compare Duke to Eden. Duke doesn't require a $150 peripheral to play it.

I know nothing about child of Eden, but based on what I read here...

Q? Entertainment's Child of Eden was a beautiful, wondrous experience [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8990-Child-of-Eden-Review] that nigh-singlehandedly made the case for Kinect as a game peripheral.

... I assume it's a mandatory peripheral.

As far as I know it isn't mandatory, it just greatly enhances the experience.

 

[Slick Samurai]

As to be expected, all those higher selling games did the smart thing; marketing. Those poor "artsy" games with underwhelming sales have no one to blame but themselves, and will be left to wallow away into obscurity as fitting. While the higher selling games that knew the market will probably receive future sequels.

Maybe these developers should learn basic marketing before they step foot into a capitalist economy, or else they're just going to get trampled.

 

[RanD00M]

Very objective article you have there John.... If it only were.
While I get that you are upset that DNF outsold some games that you enjoyed, this article is pretty damn unprofessional in its subjectivity.

 

[Sevre]

If you want to shift copies you have to work on your marketing not your game. It's sad but true.

i.e. My local bus stop has a large poster of Infamous 2 localized, LA Noire has been doing the rounds on TV and Duke has so much hype surrounding him.

Whereas Shadows of the Damned? Well I heard of the game when it was announced...and then Yahtzee told me it came out.

 

[-Dragmire-]

I find it hard to compare Duke to Eden. Duke doesn't require a $150 peripheral to play it.

I know nothing about child of Eden, but based on what I read here...

Q? Entertainment's Child of Eden was a beautiful, wondrous experience [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8990-Child-of-Eden-Review] that nigh-singlehandedly made the case for Kinect as a game peripheral.

... I assume it's a mandatory peripheral.

As far as I know it isn't mandatory, it just greatly enhances the experience.

Ah, sorry, lack of research on my part.

 

[Irridium]

Well, at least LA Noire sold well. That makes me happy.

But still, Child of Eden and Shadows of the Damned not selling well make me very sad :'(

This is why we can't have new or interesting experiences. Because nobody will buy the damn things.

 

[Mr. Omega]

Responses to why DNF outsold CoE:

Typical hardcore gamer: It's not a shooter! It's E-rated! It has the option using Kinect! Gimmick! Kiddy! Casual! Duke is HARDCORE! It's got GUNS! And TITS!

Typical Escapist response: It has little to no story. That means it is a lesser game for the casuals. And it uses Kinect, and REAL gamers don't use Kinect...

Typical casual gamer response: I never heard of either of those... Can I play them on my Wii?

The hardcores hate Kinnect, it was barely advertised so the casuals will not have heard of it. As for SotD, I am also very discouraged. I didn't even know about its existence until I saw a Let's Play of it.

 

[Weaver]

Child of Eden was a great game, but it's so damn short.
I wouldn't want to pay full price for it; it would have sold way better if it released at a $15 price point.

Why should I spend $50 on a 2 hour experience when I can pick up like 5-10 great games on steam for the same price?

 

[MarsProbe]

Well, I knew that no matter how good Child of Eden is (very good, IMO) it was always going to flounder in the sales stakes. It would have been nice to have seen such a game marketed more, but I really don't think it would have helped. You only need to look at basically any youtube video of Child of Eden to read the kind of preconceptions people have about such a game.

Personally, I didn't know games even had genders and that they could prefer the company of one over the other, but hey, every day's a school day.

Still, as long as you didn't buy DNF yourself then despite everything, you can at least know that you've done your part to hold onto to your impeccable reputation...

 

[EvilChameleon]

Why is this a surprise to anyone? People had been waiting for Duke for the better part of 12 years, it's not their fault it didn't live up to the hype.

 

[Reaper195]

I find it hard to compare Duke to Eden. Duke doesn't require a $150 peripheral to play it.

I know nothing about child of Eden, but based on what I read here...

Agreed. And considering I have played both, and found Duke to be more entertaining...


Jesus, Christ, yes, we know DNF was terrible for it's amount of time in development, but come on. There is no need to be constantly slandering a game that was average. A bad game is one that is broken, like Turning Point. Yet I don't even remember people talking about it, let alone taking the piss out of it every second fucking post.

 

[Epona]

I find it hard to compare Duke to Eden. Duke doesn't require a $150 peripheral to play it.

I know nothing about child of Eden, but based on what I read here...

Q? Entertainment's Child of Eden was a beautiful, wondrous experience [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/8990-Child-of-Eden-Review] that nigh-singlehandedly made the case for Kinect as a game peripheral.

... I assume it's a mandatory peripheral.

As far as I know it isn't mandatory, it just greatly enhances the experience.

I heard it was harder to play with Kinect than with a controller. I wouldn't call that enhancing the experience.

Anyway, Child of Eden LOOKED amazing but it seemed like it was a shoot em up game that we have been playing for 30 years.

 

[thublihnk]

-Post deleted because what I said was wrong-